Why Sisters is the Best Bromance of the Year

Why Sisters Is The Best Bromance of the Year

ICYMI, there’s a new movie coming out this weekend that sees old friends and fan favorites reuniting to give people exactly what they’ve been waiting for. No, not Star Wars. The other one. Sisters.

Starring former SNL co-stars, three-time Golden Globe co-hosts, and your SO’s favorite celebrity BFFs Tina Fey and Amy Poehler as the wild child Kate and perennial party mom Maura (respectively), the movie follows two sisters who couldn’t be more different.The siblings return to their childhood home to throw one last epic house party before their parents (James Brolin and Dianne Wiest) sell the place, practically destroying it – and their relationship– in the process.

But, hang on. Two polar opposites trade drinks, dick jokes and party until they learn a valuable life lesson about growing up? That sounds an awful lot like classic bromance material to us.

So, with the movie coming out today (unless they’ve commandeered the theaters for Force Awakens overflow) and Tina and Amy back at 30 Rock to co-host SNL this weekend, here are a few more reasons why Sisters ought to count as an honorary bromance, maybe even the best of 2015.

Fey and Poehler Play Complete Opposites

They may be related, but the similarities stop there for the Ellis sisters. Fey’s Kate is a single mom whose teenage daughter is more responsible than she is, while Poehler’s Maura hasn’t had a night out since her divorce. Playing opposites has been a hallmark of the bromance since The Odd Couple, and Fey and Poehler can bicker with the best of them – something they proved in 2008’s Baby Mama.

Only here the two swap roles, making Poehler the uptight one and allowing Fey to play against type and let loose as the anti-Liz Lemon. And it works so well it’s surprising no one’s tried it before.

It’s Got A Raunchy Sense Of Humor

Who says women can’t be dirty too? (Idiots, that’s who.) From former SNL and 30 Rock writer Paula Pell and Pitch Perfect director Jason Moore, Sisters contains the same amount of hard-R humor we’ve come to expect in a modern comedy, with more dick jokes per minute than your average Seth Rogen movie and some impressively filthy dialogue (Even Dianne Wiest gets in on the act). Sisters isn’t just lowbrow, it’s proudly, unabashedly so, even if the jokes may not all hit.

They Throw A Raging Party

Sex, drugs and booze are like the Holy Trinity of the hard-R bromance. While Sisters doesn’t quite reach Hangover levels of debauchery, as a sort of Project X for 40-somethings, the antics steadily ramp up as Kate and Maura attempt to turn the clock back to their high school days. Once John Cena shows up as a tattooed local drug dealer, the party really starts.

They Both Have Some Growing Up To Do

Forcing maturity onto irresponsible man-children is a cornerstone of the bromance (right up there with dick jokes) and it’s probably not a spoiler to say that Sisters teaches Fey and Poehler’s characters valuable lessons about moving past their arrested development. There are some definite Step Brothers vibes going on in this delayed coming-of-age tale.

But as much as Fey’s flaky single mom is forced to woman-up for her kid, Poehler’s actually pushed in the opposite direction, encouraged to embrace her inner (wo)man-child and finally have the high school rager she never got growing up. It’s a fun twist on otherwise familiar character arcs, giving Sisters a heart underneath all the hard-R humor.

Fey And Poehler Are There For Each Other

In any good bromance, there comes a point when bonds are tested and loyalty’s betrayed and it’s no different in Sisters. But on and off screen, good friends stick together no matter what. Like, say, even when their last movie together got lukewarm reviews… And it’s a good thing, because Fey and Poehler are better together than apart.

The Cameos Are More Hit Than Miss

Judd Apatow’s used the trick for years, but Sisters helps stack the comedy deck by calling in favors from Fey and Poehler’s famous friends for supporting roles. That means their party’s stocked with SNL, Parks and Rec and 30 Rock alumni: Maya Rudolph shows up as Fey’s high school nemesis while Rachel Dratch essentially plays Debbie Downer 2.0.

Cena also deserves credit as a real scene-stealer, appearing in a second comedy cameo after this summer’s Trainwreck. The only real miss is the ever-present Bobby Moynihan – with so many other funny faces on hand, it’s a shame screen time wasn’t more evenly distributed.

It All Comes Down To Chemistry

Make no mistake though; this is still the Fey and Poehler show from start to finish. After 22 years of working together, the two make for an unbeatable comic duo capable of carrying Sisters through any rough patches. Sure, at just under two hours, the movie’s about 20 minutes too long and wraps up a little too neatly, but you could say the same about pretty much any bromance released in the past decade.

Like any good buddy comedy, the story is essentially a thinly veiled excuse to watch the two leads go to work and Fey and Poehler’s time-honed chemistry is always worth the price of admission.